Espresso Broadband Ltd (previously Espresso Productions), experts in the delivery of exciting National Curriculum teaching materials via satellite, is sponsoring over £50,000 worth of its Espresso for Primary Schools services in the new Bristol Education Action Zone. As an Education Action Zone sponsor Espresso gives part of its service ‘in kind’ to schools subscribing to Espresso for Primary schools, so giving them a substantial subsidy. The package includes the production of a unique multimedia module for Zone schools, as well as extensive training materials.
3,000 pupils in the zone will benefit from the provision of the innovative Espresso for Schools service which offers weekly-updated news reports, resource banks including activities, tests and high quality video resources, all of which comprehensively cover the National Curriculum, as well as teacher training modules and guides for using Espresso to enhance curriculum delivery.
Fourteen primary schools and one nursery will receive the service, while five nurseries will also benefit from the package, having ‘Espresso Granules’, a collection of Key Stage One resource bank CD-ROMs, supplied to them. Two secondary schools in the area will also become some of the first to trial the brand new Secondary School service at the beginning of next year, offering resource banks and news based materials covering Maths, English, Science, Geography and Personal Social Health Education. A specially filmed multimedia module, celebrating Bristol's past and present, has also been commissioned and will be produced by Espresso at the beginning of 2001.
“We have chosen Espresso for our Zone because these materials are high quality, fascinating and fun”, Bristol Education Action Zone Director Sarah Gornall explained. “Pupils develop independent learning skills, become more at ease with ICT equipment, and learn more in the target areas of Literacy, Numeracy and Science. The video clips are great and we are excited about designing our own module, celebrating Bristol and its multicultural heritage. This will be very special for our pupils in the city.”
Lewis Bronze of Espresso Broadband said: "Our partnership with Bristol Education Action Zone is bringing high quality multimedia resources into schools, allowing children to use technology in the classroom in a new way. The especially produced Bristol module will be an ideal teaching tool to help local children learn about the area in which they live.”
Espresso for Primary Schools is a service designed to offer support and lesson ideas to primary school teachers and to teach children skills and concepts relevant to the National Curriculum. Espresso for Primary Schools includes news updated every week, as well as TV packages on subjects as diverse as ‘how music can improve learning’ and the ‘technology behind sharkskin swimsuits’.
Contemporary TV programmes are used to illustrate the use of mathematics in everyday life, while children can use newspaper work as a base for English topics.
Espresso uses satellite technology to deliver weekly feeds of information to schools. A satellite dish and Espresso box - costing £1850 - are required to receive and store the information. For the average Primary School a subscription fee of £4.50 per pupil is payable yearly. Espresso for Primary Schools can be ordered through the website, www.espresso.co.uk
Further information is available from Espresso Broadband plc, Riverside Studios, Crisp Road, Hammersmith, London, W6 9RL. Tel: +44 (0)20 8237 1200 Fax: +44 (0)20 8237 1201.
Note to Editors:
Espresso Productions Ltd changed its name to Espresso Broadband Ltd in October 2000 to reflect more accurately the nature of the company's work and services
The Secretary of State for Education, David Blunkett, has said of Education Action Zones:
Education Action Zones provide an opportunity for parents, businesses, local education authorities and others in the community to work with groups of schools to pioneer new approaches to improving education. They are about strong partnerships and strong leaders, about communities refusing to accept that any area deserves less than the very best.
There are 99 Education Action Zones in England and Wales. Further information about the EAZ initiative can be found on the Department for Education & Employment website.
For further press information or paper versions of this release please contact:
Espresso Marketing, Riverside Studios, Crisp Road, Hammersmith, W6 9RL
Tel: +44(0)20 8237 1200
Fax: +44(0)20 8237 1201
Email: info@espresso.co.uk
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